Homeless man crushed in rubbish bin

A homeless man was crushed to death in the back of a dustcart after he fell asleep in a wheelie bin, an inquest has heard.

Raymond Pickering, 54, was living rough in and around Nottingham and fell asleep in a large commercial wheelie bin, the city's coroner's court was told.

But, on the morning of May 15, the bin was emptied with him inside and he was crushed to death before his body was found hours later at Biffa's waste-management site in Colwick.

The binmen who were doing their rounds that morning had not checked inside the bin, as was standard practice for health and safety reasons.

Kevin Storrs, who was driving the lorry for Shanks Waste Solutions, said: "When we pick up bins from business premises, we give them a shake in case there are any rats. But they could have things like hypodermic needles inside, so, for health and safety reasons, we do not open the lids."

Detective Constable David Newton, from Nottinghamshire police, said he was unable to determine which bin Mr Pickering had fallen asleep in.

He read a statement from David Ilisse, a friend of Mr Pickering's, who said the homeless man would regularly scavenge in bins for food and seek shelter in them when he could not find a bed for the night.

In the statement, Mr Ilisse said: "I would describe Ray as a nice guy who would get on with anybody. He was drunk quite regularly and I know that, as well as drinking, he would take drugs. If he could not find anywhere to stay at night, he would sleep in bins at the back of shops."

Mairin Casey, assistant deputy coroner for Nottinghamshire, recorded a verdict of accidental death.

He said: "Mr Pickering certainly seems to have taken refuge in bins and, in this case, one of the bins was collected in the usual way before its contents were put into the back of a truck, so it is quite likely that he was crushed to death. It is a very tragic and very sad that Mr Pickering should end his life in this way."